Isian
KOL
Reged: 03/15/04
Posts: 481
Loc: NSW, Australia
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Blessings! 
Being from a Christian background, I found it very difficult letting go of the 'Set'=Devil-type persona and most recently letting go of what almost became a 'one word' synopsis of most of the Netjer in general (thusly, Set=Chaos).
I'd be very interested to hear of anyone's personal relationship with Set and how they overcame such simplistic mindset's
Namaste
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WabJenSoko
Wab Priest / KOL Newsletter Editor / Central Regio
Reged: 08/22/01
Posts: 850
Loc: Lost in Middle America
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Funny you should say something like that... 
Our temple has recently come through a period where Set energy had a dominant hand in our existence (is that understatement enough, gang? LOL).
I was Wiccan for nearly a decade before finding Kemeticism, so I had a Wiccan context with which to get rid of the whole Set=devil thing. However, to truly understand how the ancients could build temples to him, to serve him, and to even let some of their kings bear his name (Seti), it took a (few dozen)in-depth and critical readings of the "Contendings of Horus and Set" to begin to see Set as more than just the Token Bad Guy of the drama.
Or you could start smaller just by researching his epithets (ie, the red-haired one, the Lord of Storms, etc). When we study in the classes here at Per Ankh, we usually try to understand the Netjer in question through daily rite, trying to get a sense of who they are, what their energies feel like, where4 in nature do you see/sense similar energies. And why would those energies be necessary in living life.
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senebty,
Jen Sokoloski, Wab Priest of Ptah
Per AnkhThe Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
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RevSedgwick
Heri Tep Hem Netjer
Reged: 04/12/02
Posts: 361
Loc: Racine, WI
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Em hotep! <bow>
This is an interesting question and, as Wab Jen points out, it's one with which we as a Temple community have been engaged for the past several months. Not consciously, perhaps, but still . . .
Wab Jen says, Quote:
And why would those energies be necessary in living life.
Right. One of the many things I deeply appreciate about our Kemetic forebears is the subtlety and nuance with which they observed and then related to the energies that actually flow in the world. Not the ones that people might prefer (like just the happy, constructive ones), or the ones that are easiest to describe (like just the full moon and the new moon), but the full range of what actually is in the world.
And so when I began to interact with Set--an interaction I found surprising because I'm into calmness and order and step-by-stepness usually--I was curious about how right and important and useful Set's energy seemed to me. Not always pleasant, but not capricious either. And not evil, although in the moment it can certainly seem that something malicious is undermining all one's efforts to make progress.
In my short acquaintance with Set I have found Him to be purposeful and productive in His actions--and, yes, to enjoy the destructive parts too. 
Best,
Rev Sedgwick
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Rev Sedgwick Heskett, Hemet NebetHet-Nit and Amun
Heri Tep Hem Netjer Per Ankh
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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ShaRenKa_Acre
KOL
Reged: 03/13/04
Posts: 59
Loc: NY
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Em Hotep Isian!
*Bow*
In your q about Set/Devil/ect... This is what I believe, though maybe not shared with all, Set/Devil what ever you wish to call this "negative" creature that has been bestowed upon us, I believe is because first off..."Everything" has an opposite in which to exist. Also? I believe Set/Devil ect is here to remind us of what "Goodness" truly is. Having been in Wicca myself for over 30 some odd years...which I might add they don't believe in such a being. There is no evil...just what "IS". Well anyone who has taken a look around lately can see that such an entity actualy does exist in this world, and it spreads as a virus! But to me...it's a learning experiance, and one not to be feared! I think one should come to "know" Set/Devil what ever name you put upon it...just so you know what your dealing with or could! "He who knows thy evil enemy's heart will stand clearly as the Victor"..... to say it dosn't exist just allows it to spread much like cancer. So yes Set is a part of Netjer...but one we must come to know, and stand seperate from. Enshala ShaRenKa (ps...I don't mean to step on anyones toes here..just stating what I have found to be true is all)
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RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Em hotep folks,
Ah...but if you eliminate Set or Stand separate from Him.
Kemet will fall:)
It is Set who each morning destroys Apep for Ra !
It is He who cuts away what needs to be cut away....so that the new can arise.
My favorite story of an experience in which I first really began to recognize Set's importance. ...
I was hiking and came to an area that looked devastated. I felt so uncomfortable ...my stomach was turning as I looked at twisted tree trunks and branches..and a whole lot of space where the trees were ripped up from their rcover of the forest..and the once dense roof of leaves --Just GONE
GONE..completely...
It turned out a tornado had ravaged the area many yearws earlier. I sat down and noticed...some small green shoots starting to grow under the rays of RA (the sun).
I was so excited. I cried and went home and rqan to tell Rev Sedgwick...who was at the time MUCH more versed in nature than I. She explained that if a forest does NOT have such things as tornados and such that clear away older trees...then some species in the forest die. The storm creates conditions that make life in its diversity to flourish
Life IS the ***process ** which involves moments of necessary destruction ...these are not EVIL..they are necessary to let go of our death grip on keeping things the way they are and resisting change
You see Netjer has provided everything we need to live a good life. The processes that feed Ma'at are all there..
and Set is as much a part of these..as is Heru
Best
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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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Isian
KOL
Reged: 03/15/04
Posts: 481
Loc: NSW, Australia
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Blessings,
Lovely analogy, Rev's 
It makes ~alot~ of sense to me. In Australia there are certain species of plants that ~rely~ on devistation (such as bushfires) in order to spread their seeds. Without bushfires their seed's can not burst open...(they need a certain amount of heat).
hee hee... I don't actually find it too startling that I learn about aspects of Suti when I have such a love for Heru
Many thanks for the eye openers!
Jen
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ShaRenKa_Acre
KOL
Reged: 03/13/04
Posts: 59
Loc: NY
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Em Hotep Rev Renee!
*Bow*
I agree with you (no argument here)... Thats why I stated everything has an opposite in order to exist! True Set does these things...yet Set has also done things that havn't had such a positive effect. That's why I said one should come to know Set...yet stand clear....meaning keeping one eye opened Enshala ShaRenKa
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RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Hotep Sharenka!
<boe>
Quote:
yet Set has also done things that havn't had such a positive effect.
Like what?
Quote:
That's why I said one should come to know Set...yet stand clear....meaning keeping one eye opened
Hmmm. That depends.
Set sometimes comes to add stength and discipline. ONe eye closed you might miss the real danger from which Set hopes to preserve you..but will still require your own effort
Now what about when He enters more ermm forcefully?
Most often when Set enters into a situation it is bacause what is NEEDED is the total destruction or elimination of something. It may be that you need to keep both eyes open to see What is happening...Or close your eyes in surrender to the storm and to keep the flying dirt out..It could be ine eye open would be most appropriate offering a little of both..
However if what is needed is both closed or open and you insist on keeping one open and one closed..you may end up without one or two eyes ;-)
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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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RevSedgwick
Heri Tep Hem Netjer
Reged: 04/12/02
Posts: 361
Loc: Racine, WI
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Em hotep, all! <bow>
There was a time when I didn't realise how closely the ancient Egyptians observed nature, or how much they derived their understanding of Ma'at from nature. But no longer. Everything in our faith speaks to me of being grounded in that unbelievable plenitude that nature presents us.
As Jen says, some species of plants cannot survive without the devastations of fire or flood or wind. Too long the calmness of what we would call blessed weather, and the cycle of life begins to slow down, as species can no longer rely on that perfection of balance that tilts life toward Ma'at. The balance is achieved in part through wide swings--periods of drought followed by periods of too much rain, perhaps a time of pretty much the right amount, and then the wild swinging again.
ShaRenKa makes an interesting point, too. After all, when we look around us, it's pretty easy to conclude that there is some reason why so many inexplicably bad things happen. Can nature really be a guide to help explain human misbehavior? Well, yes, I think so. Our Kemetic ancestors participated in, observed, reflected on, described, and celebrated nature over a very long time. That's one of the teachings of the natural world, isn't it? That many cycles are very, very big--much longer than a human lifetime can even see--and on that scale tend toward the perfect balance of Ma'at, even while on the human scale that tilt cannot be seen.
So here is an interesting question: We choose, as Wab Jen says somewhere, to support Ma'at or not support Ma'at, and those choices are human sized. They are daily, minute-by-minute decisions, miniscule really. What is the relationship between our actions and the overall tipping of the scale in the big picture toward Ma'at?
Blessings!
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Rev Sedgwick Heskett, Hemet NebetHet-Nit and Amun
Heri Tep Hem Netjer Per Ankh
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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WabAndy
Wab Priest
Reged: 12/31/02
Posts: 453
Loc: New Hampshire
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Quote:
So here is an interesting question: We choose, as Wab Jen says somewhere, to support Ma'at or not support Ma'at, and those choices are human sized. They are daily, minute-by-minute decisions, miniscule really. What is the relationship between our actions and the overall tipping of the scale in the big picture toward Ma'at?
to me the answer is one of my favorites - it depends!
it depends on where you're looking - I think that the minute by minute decisions we make can have a huge effect on Ma'at in our lives indvidualy and in the lives of the people we come into contact with - in some cases I think our individual decisions can have much further reach - and it's very dificult or imposible to know what the extent of effects a decsion will have will be - so I think that all we can know is that ever time we make a decision in Ma'at we make the world more Ma'at... by how much and where that'll show up - I don't think we know - but I also don't think we need to... However I can say that many of us have had very concrete experiences that when we act in Ma'at we have a noticably better time with all sorts of things... but it's also not universaly true either... but I think it is a trend...
ok I'll stop rambeling now...
lol
Andy
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Andy Dolph, Wab Priest Aset-Hethert
Per Ankh The Traditional Reigion of Ancient Egypt
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